When forming a joint venture, your agreement should outline how you and your JV partner plan to divide the leadership duties. There should be no one leader in charge of everything. The benefits should be shared between the two of you, and so should the duties required to get there.

Many times it can be difficult for entrepreneurs with big egos to let go of control of some aspect of their business. However, when they look at the big picture and how the joint venture can provide leadership synergy, or bigger success with combined effort, it should be easy to see that the proverbial "two heads are better than one" can work to their benefit.

What are some of the leadership qualities that can be shared and synergized?

VISION

Strategy - Both you and your JV partner have had success in creating business strategy in your respective companies. Working together to develop strategies that will fulfill your joint venture goals can be enlightening as well as fruitful.

Opportunities - You and your JV partner can also find additional opportunities when you work together. When you combine resources for a joint venture project, you may find that another opportunity may exist in areas such as customer service, product improvement, etc. Use your vision to discover these potential opportunities.

INSPIRATION

Employee and partner empowerment - Inspiration from you can empower your JV partner, as well as your employees, to execute their duties to the fullest. Give them the trust they deserve to inspire them to be creative and take ownership of their duties.

Teamwork - Teamwork is important when trying to achieve a goal. A quarterback on a football team may get the recognition and credit of winning a game, but it couldn't have happened without the teamwork of the guards, running backs, receivers, etc. Give credit to your team and help it run at full throttle.

EXECUTION

Reduce risks - When it comes time to execute your vision and strategy, good leadership synergy can help reduce the risks involved. Use past experience, foresight, and conservative approaches to reduce the risks that be barriers to your JV success.

Coordinate resources - You and your JV partner can create great business synergy by directing and coordinating the use of resources. Do you both have access to customer contacts? Combine them and share marketing power to reach your contacts. Perhaps your JV partner has a great distribution system? Coordinate with your JV partner to get the most out of the delivery of your product.

The most successful joint ventures are those who do more than just combine resources. Utilize both your and your JV partner's leadership and strengths to help create an effective and synergetic joint venture.

Copyright (c) 2009 Christian Fea